Wednesday, January 21, 2026 |
Photo – Home page of old website for Medicine Bow – Bigfoot99 file photo
Computer problems in Medicine Bow. Town officials remain unable to access the town’s existing website. They’re exploring ways to have staff build a new one.
During the May 12th Medicine Bow Town Council meeting last year, Councilman Lee Cook announced that no town employees can update or modify the town’s official website, medicinebow.org. Although events were advertised on Facebook, Councilman Cook said the website could also be used to share community information.
The governing body agreed that having the ability to update the website would benefit the town. The matter was revisited two months later during the July 14th Council meeting. Mayor Justin George said he appreciated how the website helps residents contact the town but cautioned that restoring it would be difficult without web‑design expertise. Councilwoman Crystal Mayfield recommended creating a new website through Squarespace, an easy‑to‑use template‑based design platform.
Councilwoman Mayfield also proposed working with H‑E‑M High School, where students could build the site to gain real‑world experience.
The governing body approved Councilwoman Mayfield’s plan to have local high school students design a new town website and asked her to present the idea to H‑E‑M business and computer teacher Stephanie Scott.
After months of discussion between Scott and the Carbon County School District Two Board, Councilwoman Mayfield finally received an answer from the H‑E‑M computer teacher. Speaking at the December 8th Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Mayfield said Scott doesn’t believe her students are qualified to build a new website, adding that even if an agreement were reached, the school would require payment.
Councilwoman Mayfield once again recommended using a design template program, such as Squarespace or Wix, to build a new website.
The councilwoman explained that once operational, updating the site is a simple process. Mayor Justin George also suggested posting notices around town seeking residents with web‑design experience.
The matter was tabled once again while the governing body looked into options for rebuilding the town’s official website.
During the January 12th Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Clerk Treasurer Karen Heath announced that an individual submitted a proposal to design a new website, but at a cost. Instead, Treasurer Heath recommended following the original plan of having high school students do the work. Councilwoman Mayfield reminded her that the H‑E‑M computer teacher had already said her students were too inexperienced for the task.
With that option no longer available, Treasurer Heath said the town will need to hire someone to design a new website, but it lacks the funding to cover the cost.
Councilwoman Mayfield asked Treasurer Heath if she had an opportunity to review any template‑based website design platforms, such as Squarespace or Wix.
The treasurer said she had not, adding that she had updated the previous website in the past, but was not able to fully grasp the process. Councilwoman Mayfield said modern website design is far more user‑friendly than it used to be.
Treasurer Heath said she would review the website design platforms when possible. Councilwoman Kristi Wickizer offered to assist. The matter was tabled once again until Heath determines if the template‑based tools can be used to build a new town website.
